The present invention relates to a headed fastener separator/feeder for separating headed fasteners in a row from a chute and feeding them one by one.
A known headed fastener separator/feeder is described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 3 in which a separator/feeder 1 for T-studs uses a chute 2 that stores a plurality of T-studs 4 standing in a row so that their shanks are received in a groove 3 with the heads positioned above the groove to thereby send them toward an outlet. The feeder/separator 1 is provided with a shuttle 7 having a storage cavity 6 (See FIGS. 2 and 3.) to receive a single T stud 4 from the chute 2. The shuttle 7 is supported by a body or housing 8 in such a manner that the shuttle is reciprocated. The body 8 is connected with an outlet from the chute 2 to receive T-studs 4. On the body 8, a piston-cylinder device 11 is mounted to reciprocate the shuttle 7 between a first position in the housing in which the storage cavity 6 receives a T-stud 4 from the chute 2 (See FIG. 2) and a second position in the housing in which the storage cavity 6 is positioned at a discharge port 9 for T-studs 4. A piston rod 12 of the piston-cylinder device 11 is connected to the shuttle 7 to reciprocate the shuttle 7 between the first position of FIG. 2 and the second position of FIG. 3. To the discharge port 9 of the housing 8, a discharge tube 13 is connected to convey the T-studs 4 to a stud welder or the like with their shanks being foremost in the direction of travel. For feeding the T-studs, the top surface of the body opposite to the discharge port 9 is provided with an air pipe 14 to supply pressurized air. When the separator/feeder 1 as described above is at the first position of FIG. 2, a single T-stud 4 is stored in the storage cavity 6 of the shuttle 7. The shuttle 7 is then moved to the second position of FIG. 3 by the piston-cylinder device 11, and the T-stud 4 is fed into the discharge tube 13 with its shank being foremost. Thus, the T-studs 4 are fed one by one to a stud welder or the like by reciprocating the shuttle 7.
The known separator/feeder described above separates the headed fasteners one by one by reciprocating the shuttle so that the shank of the fastener is always foremost. Since this arrangement is suitable for automatic feeding to a stud welder, or a pneumatic screw driver or the like, such separator/feeders are widely in use. Moreover, in this known device, the headed fasteners are fed through the tube extending from the lower portion of the separator/feeder body or housing. Thus, in an already limited space below the housing, a further space is required for changing the direction of the discharge tube. As shown in FIG. 1, a space having a height H has to be provided under the body for accommodating the tube. Because the tube is in a restricted space it can only be manipulated in a limited direction.